It is generally accepted that the mutagenic potential of a chemical agent is roughly proportional to the agent's carcinogenic potential. An early determination of whether a particular agent presents a hazard of mutagenicity is fundamental to the development of products for the chemical, cosmetic, food additive and pharmaceutical industries.
Mutagens are agents that cause an increase in the rate of mutation, i.e. detectable and heritable structural changes in the genetic material of an organism. Such changes may include the addition or deletion of a whole chromosome, a structural change to a chromosomes (e.g., a translocation) and a structural change to a portion of the genomic sequence (e.g., point mutations, mutations to multiple sequential nucleotides and deletions of portions of the genomic sequence). Because genetic changes can damage or otherwise interfere with the action of genes, mutagens are characterized as genotoxins, i.e. agents that are toxic to genes.